Feb 21 2011
Tessera Solar’s 709MW solar development project has been purchased by AES Solar, just months after K Road purchased Tessera’s 850-MW Calico solar project.
Tessera had intended to build the 709 MW Imperial Valley Solar Project with the intention of selling electricity to San Diego Gas & Electric with whom it already had a power purchase agreement. An official statement from AES Solar states that it is committed to fulfilling the obligations with SDG&E and will work with them.
While both the Calico and Imperial project, located in California had federal permits, Tessera’s hope to develop them were threatened with federal lawsuits filed by an Indian tribe as well as facing the legal challenges for Calico, all of which landed Tessera in troubled waters and financial woes.
Initially overseen by Stirling Energy Systems, several years were dedicated to the development of the Calico project. In 2005, Stirling agreed to sell power from the project to Southern California Edison, but Sterling couldn’t continue its technology development due to financial problems. NTR, an Irish firm, saved Stirling with $100 million. In 2009, Stirling Energy established Tessera Solar to focus on project development while Stirling Energy continued to focus on equipment sale and technology development.